TOKYO, Dec 10 (News On Japan) - The most popular baby names of 2025 were led by Minato for boys and Sui for girls, according to rankings released by Meiji Yasuda Life, which highlighted continued enthusiasm for certain kanji characters and showed how naming trends have evolved since the survey began in the first year of the Taisho era.
Meiji Yasuda Life reported that the most common boy’s name in 2025 was the single-character 湊, used for readings such as Minato and Sou, followed by Iori (伊織) and Yuito or Yuuto, both written as 結翔. For girls, the top name was Sui, written as 翠, with Himari and Hinata, both written as 陽葵, in second place, and Tsumugi (紬) ranked in third.
In the ranking of kanji most frequently used in names, the character 翔, read as Sho and shared by Los Angeles Dodgers player Ohtani Shohei, took the top spot for boys for the fifth consecutive year. For girls, the characters 愛 (Ai) and 花 (Hana) have jointly remained at the top for four straight years.
The insurer’s long-running survey dates back to 1912, the first year of the Taisho era, and historical data reveal striking shifts in naming preferences over more than a century. In 1912, the most popular names were Shoichi, Kiyoshi, and Masao for boys, and Chiyo, Haru, and Hana for girls, reflecting common use of the character 正 for boys in that era. Notably, Kiyoshi went on to remain within the top ten for 43 consecutive years.
Among more recent generations, the 1984 rankings—Inoue’s birth year—show Daisuke, Kenta, and Makoto as the top names for boys, influenced in part by the popularity of high school baseball star Araki Daisuke, while Ai, Mai, and Megumi were the top names for girls, with Ai remaining in first place for eight consecutive years. In 1994, the birth year of Demizu, Kenta moved into the top spot for boys ahead of Shota and Takuya, while Misaki, Ai, and Moe led the girls’ rankings, with Misaki marking its sixth straight year at number one.
Source: TBS
